Good Hair Reaction

I found the movie “Good Hair” by Chris Rock to be very entertaining as well as very interesting.  I never realized how important it was to have this idea of good hair but after watching this movie, it was present what an issue it is.  Whenever Andre spoke in class about his families differences based of race comparing the hair of the two it didn’t seem like that would be such a great distinction of the two.  

I could not believe how much money and time and chemicals some people put in their hair to make it look a certain way.  The fact that it sometimes can cost up to 1000 dollars for a single weave amazes me.  I also could not comprehend how painful it must be to have braids tied to tightly to your head and than a chemical that is strong enough to burn through coke cans sit on your scalp for a period of time.  

This video made me grateful that I have the hair I do and how lucky I am that I don’t have to go through the things so many of these women did.

I also don’t agree with some of these treatments because I think many of the women had beautiful hair naturally.  Although it is different than Caucasian hair it doesn’t make it less beautiful.  The fact that women spend that amount of money a month just to upkeep a certain look was ridiculous.  But than thinking about it, it really isn’t that strange.  I feel every race spends money on their hair, it doesn’t matter if they are african american, caucasian, asian, indian, anything.  No matter your descent in a society so based on appearance there is always a way to alter your look to be more main stream and “beautiful.”  Asians typically have very straight hair, some spend large sums of money a month in order to give their hair more body and more curls.  Highlights, perms, extensions, relaxers, dye jobs all are expensive and it shows what people go through in order to look more appealing.  The one aspect that really bothered me was the little girls who were getting these relaxing treatments done.  They are so very dangerous and getting their hair straightened at ages as young as 3 is absurd!  Not only is it dangerous for these little girls, it is also putting an image in their head that they are not beautiful and they must change.  It isn’t fair that so many little children as seen in the video think straight here is beautiful and their natural hair is not good enough.  These children will grow up with a complex thinking they have to conform to this beauty that is based off the idea that white is superior, which is not true.